Making Philosophy of Science Education Practical for Science Teachers

Many scholars in the teaching of science put forth that the perennial target of science education is to teach the nature of science (NOS), and science textbooks play a crucial role in the teaching of the nature of science (NOS). Understanding the nature of science is said to be effective when both understanding science concepts and doing science. Numerous studies focus on the teaching of NOS. This study investigates the effect of a science content that is prepared in history and philosophy of science (HPS) perspective on the NOSunderstandings of pre-service science teachers. 34 sophomore pre-service science teachers participated in the study. The quasi-experimental method was used by employing a pre-test, an intervention, and a post-test which is the same as the pre-test. The intervention involved the presentation of science content from the HPS perspective in six weeks long of discussions. Data were collected through a survey that revealed categorical views regarding the characteristics of the NOS. The results showed that the demonstration of atom theories in the HPS perspective gave a positive effect on the pre-service science teachers in understanding the NOS.

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Positive Growth: Developments in the Philosophy of Science Education

Curriculum Inquiry ◽

10.1111/j.1467-873x.2008.00415.x ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 38 (4) ◽

pp. 387-399 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

David Blades

Keyword(s):

Science Education ◽

Philosophy Of Science ◽

Positive Growth ◽

Philosophy Of Science Education

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Beliefs of preschool teacher candidates about the nature of science

African Educational Research Journal ◽

10.30918/aerj.84.20.173 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 8 (4) ◽

pp. 774-783

Author(s):

Güzin Özyılmaz ◽

Keyword(s):

Science Education ◽

Nature Of Science ◽

Science Teachers ◽

Teacher Candidates ◽

Preschool Education ◽

Preschool Teacher ◽

Spring Semester ◽

Teachers Beliefs ◽

Aim Of Science ◽

Academic Year

The aim of science education is to enable children to become “science-literate.” Science literacy is defined as taking responsibility for and making decisions about situations requiring scientific understanding and having sufficient knowledge, skills, attitudes and understanding of values to put their decisions into practice. Revealing teachers’ beliefs can help to understand the types of experiences presented by teachers in their classrooms. Inadequate understandings and misbeliefs of teachers shape the first perceptions of children about the NOS when they are formally introduced with science education in their early childhood. Most of the studies were also performed with science teachers and there have been few studies conducted with preschool teachers. Therefore, the present study was directed towards determining NOS beliefs of preschool teacher candidates. To achieve this aim, Nature of Science Beliefs Scale (NOSBS), developed by Özcan and Turgut (2014), was administered to the preschool teacher candidates studying in Preschool Education Department of Buca Education Faculty at Dokuz Eylül University in the spring semester of the 2018-2019 academic year. In the study, the NOS beliefs of the teacher candidates were found to be acceptable in general. While the findings of this study are consistent with those revealed in several relevant studies in the literature

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A Glance Portrayal of Science Education in Indonesia

10.31219/osf.io/egy2n ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Adib Rifqi Setiawan

Keyword(s):

Science Education ◽

General Education ◽

Science Teachers ◽

Teaching And Learning ◽

Science Teacher Education ◽

Asia Pacific ◽

Professional Organizations ◽

Curriculum Innovation ◽

Global Science ◽

Historical Developments

The goal of this work is to describe pre- and in-service science teacher education and science education research in Indonesia in an effort to better inform the global science education community about historical developments and present challenges. We begin by providing an historical overview of the general education system to provide readers with context needed to understand current reform initiatives. Next we describe the current-day process for preparing and certifying science teachers and we describe some of the challenges facing teachers, students, and researchers in Indonesia’s science education context today. We follow this discussion with an introduction to some existing professional organizations for teachers and researchers in Indonesia that are working to develop important channels for disseminating current research on teacher practice, curriculum innovation, and student learning that have the potential to positively influence on teaching and learning in the future. We conclude by highlighting some areas that would benefit from additional research and by inviting more international collaborative research initiatives with colleagues in the Asia-Pacific region and beyond.

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Science Teachers’ Perceptions and Self-Efficacy Beliefs Related to Integrated Science Education

Education Sciences ◽

10.3390/educsci11060272 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (6) ◽

pp. 272

Author(s):

Outi Haatainen ◽

Jaakko Turkka ◽

Maija Aksela

Keyword(s):

Science Education ◽

Science Teachers ◽

Self Efficacy ◽

Online Survey ◽

Teaching Method ◽

Survey Study ◽

Integrated Education ◽

Integrated Science ◽

Teachers Perceptions ◽

Key Factor

To understand how integrated science education (ISE) can be transferred into successful classroom practices, it is important to understand teachers’ perceptions and self-efficacy. The focus of this study is twofold: (1) to understand how teachers perceive ISE and (2) to assess if science teachers’ perceptions of and experiences with integrated education correlate with their views on self-efficacy in relation to ISE. Ninety-five Finnish science teachers participated in an online survey study. A mixed method approach via exploratory factor analysis and data-driven content analysis was used. Self-efficacy emerged as a key factor explaining teachers’ perceptions of and their lack of confidence in implementing ISE as well as their need for support. In addition, teachers regarded ISE as a relevant teaching method, but challenging to implement, and teachers primarily applied integrated approaches irregularly and seldom. Furthermore, teachers’ experiences with integrated activities and collaboration correlated with their views on integrated education and self-efficacy. These findings indicate teachers need support to better understand and implement ISE.

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Exploring Pre-service Science Teachers’ Perspectives on the Nature of Science: A Comparative Study Between China and Canada

ECNU Review of Education ◽

10.1177/2096531120966782 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 209653112096678

Author(s):

Guihua Zhang ◽

Yuanrong Li ◽

George Zhou ◽

Sonia Wai-Ying Ho

Keyword(s):

Teacher Education ◽

Science Education ◽

Science Teacher ◽

Nature Of Science ◽

Science Teachers ◽

Scientific Literacy ◽

Survey Design ◽

Science Teacher Education ◽

Teaching Behaviors ◽

Preservice Science Teachers

Purpose: The Nature of Science (NOS) is an important component of scientific literacy. Science teachers’ Views of the Nature of Science (VNOS) directly affect their teaching behaviors. Therefore, it is of great significance to explore science teachers’ VNOS and find ways of improvement. This study was designed to comparatively investigate preservice science teachers’ VNOS between China and Canada. Design/Approach/Methods: The study employed a survey design to explore how Chinese and Canadian preservice science teachers understood the seven different aspects of NOS. Findings: Data showed that preservice science teachers in China and Canada both hold a modern view about science education. The level of Chinese and Canadian participants’ understanding of NOS was above the relatively naive level. Chinese teachers had better macro-understanding toward science education but their micro-mastery was insufficient. While the Canadian participants had a better understanding of the NOS than their Chinese counterparts. Originality/Value: Based on the research results and the experience of science education and teacher education in Canada, we suggested that there is a need to reconstruct the preservice science teacher education curriculum in China and promote the transformation in the science teacher educational system.

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